Research at the Paul Scherrer Institute includes efforts to develop marketable fuel cells for the use in cars. Belenos Clean Power, a co-operative effort between the Paul Scherrer Institute and the Swatch affiliate Belenos, has been awarded the 2011 “Watt d’Or” award by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) for this applied research.

The issue of vehicle-to-grid opportunities is leading to increased research into smart grids, a topic popular with proponents of new renewable energy technologies. A working group under the SFOE umbrella has started to focus on the question of the effects of widespread use of electric vehicles on the Swiss grid.

Swiss company Battery Consult, the maker of the sodium nickel chloride “ZEBRA” battery, is establishing a new research centre that it expects to be operative in late 2011. This battery type is used in several battery electric vehicle models such as the Smart electric drive.